Development in Africa: Water and Gender

Welcome back! Reflecting on my blog entries so far, I have explored how women have been disproportionally affected by the lack of readily available water resources. As a follow up to that, I aim to look at one of the largest initiatives by Coca-Cola that have been implemented to lessen the burden women have to face. In exploring this, I aim to interrogate their successes especially in female participation, whilst ultimately concluding that neo-colonial forms of development can be problematic . RAIN (Replenish Africa Initiative) by Coca-Cola Coca-Cola is one of the largest private employers in Africa and has set out to replenish Africa through community-specific initiatives to improve WaSH and other water infrastructures. I ask myself, why would Coca-Cola want to improve wash facilities for women in Africa – aren’t they a massive corporation with other things to worry about? – well, I’ll get to that. They have successfully been able to invest almost $30 million to implement initiatives...

Welcome back to this 2-part series! In the first part, I considered how a lack of WaSH facilities had consequences on MHM and period poverty and the ways in which these could be alleviated. In this post, I aim to look at other impacts WaSH has had on women such as gender-based violence (GBV) and education attainment as a response to poor WaSH facilities.  Before I begin, I want to make it clear that gender-based violence and poor educational attainment are issues that can be found globally and are not exclusive to Africa . The case is that these can be exacerbated due to a lack of WaSH facilities in Africa. Also, these issues can sometimes be a response to poor MHM, thus showing how cumulative these problems really are.  GBV in relation to WaSH  GBV is violence inflicted on another person based on their gender and can be both physical and psychological. Fragmented access to water puts women in particular at great risk. Studies in refugee camps in Kenya have found that i...

My next entry will be on the topic that interests me most within the theme of water and gender in Africa – WaSH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) and the impact this has had on MHM (Menstrual Health Management) and period poverty. I will be contextualising this problem by looking at the causes of poor WaSH facilities and the implications this has had. in the context of MHM As WaSH is an extensive topic, this will act as a 2-part series.  Poor access to WaSH facilities disproportionally affects women in many countries in Africa which consequently causes problems with MHM. As a result, period poverty has become a prevalent issue as women are unable to access sanitation facilities that allow them to manage their periods effectively. A lack of WaSH facilities is more so a problem in informal settlements and is often routed in lack of regulations and funds to be able to provide appropriate sanitation infrastructures e.g a toilet, clean water and sanitary towels. Subsequently, women are ...